Mechanism for use in sealing cartons.



T..j BURKE.

MECHANFSM FOR USE IN SEALING CARTONS.

APPLICATION FlLED [fl/28.1918.

Tatented Oct. 29, 1918;

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 1.

T, 1. BURKE.

MEGHANISM FOR USE IN SEALING CARTONS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28. 1918.

Patented Oct. 29, 1918.

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" (lbtozn aw THOMAS J. BURKE, or new ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

MECHANISM FOR USE IN SEALING CARTONS.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Hot. 29, 1918.

Application filed May 28, 1918. Serial No. 237,049.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. BURKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for Use in Sealin Cartons, of which the following is a speci cation.

' This invention relates to apparatus for facilitating the closing of filled cartons and insuring the complete closure of the same, the object of the invention being to provide simple means whereby the carton will be firmly supported while it is being filled and sealed and the sealing flap held in contact with the coacting flaps until the sealing adhesive has set. A secondary object of the invention is to provide means whereby the device may be quickly adjusted to accommodate cartons or packages of different sizes.

What I now believe to be the best embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my improved holders showing the weight or presser plate in raised positlon and showing the sealing flap of the carton in a partly closed position in order that the mountlng of the presser plate may be more clearly disclosed;

' Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the presser plate in lowered position;

Fig. 3 is a view showing my lmproved holder in central transverse vertical section, the sealing flap of the carton being shown fully raised and against the weight or presser plate;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevatlon of the holder,

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 55 of Fig. 4:.-

In carrymg out my lnventlon, I employ an endless belt or carrier 1 which may be of any well-known or preferred construction.

or material and at intervals along said belt I firmly secure base plates 2 of metal or other substantial material, each base plate having a standard or back plate 3 rising therefrom near its rear end. The base plate is also provided with a central guiding rib 4 upon its upper side which is disposed'transversely of the carrier and serves as a guldefor the front supporting plate as will be presently set forth. The base plate is preferably secured to the carrier by rivets or similar devices 5 inserted through the carrier and through the base plate near the front and rear ends of the same. The upper surface of the base plate should be smooth and at right angles to the front face of the stand-' ard or back plate 3 so that the carton or package, indicated at 6, will be firmly supported by the base plate and the back plate. The front support for the carton or package consists of a preferably resilient plate 7 and a foot plate 8 resting directly upon the base and having a central transverse grooved and offset portion 9 slidably engaging the rib 4, whereby the foot plate may be shifted transversely of the carrier and will be firmly supported and held against twisting movement. A slot 10 is formed in the foot plate longitudinally of the guiding portion thereof and a set screw or bolt 11 rising from the base plate passes through the said slot 10, a

Washer 12 and a winged nut 13 being fitted upon the upper end of the said bolt or set screw so as to secure the foot plate in any position in which it may be set upon the base. The rear edge of the foot plate 8 is formed with an upstanding flange 14 to which the lower edge or end of the face plate 7 is secured, the lower end of said plate being thereby reinforced so that the package will be firmly held and the face plate prevented from springing away from the carton when the same is being sealed. The upper edge of the face plate 7 is preferably rolled, as shown'at 15, to provide a bead which will obviate the formation of sharp corners or other projections which might interfere with the rapid insertion of packages or cartons in the device.

A set screw or bolt 16'is carried by the upper ortion of the back plate3 and passes throng the vertical slot 17 in the supplemental back plate or weight carrier 18. A washer l9 and a winged nut 20 are mounted upon the outer end of the screw or bolt 16 so that the back plate 18 may be securely clamped at any desired height of the stand ard so as to adjust the device to the height of the carton to be sealed, it being readily understood, of course, that the provision of the slot 10, the bolt or screw 11, and the parts cooperating therewith permit the device to be adjusted to the width of the carton to be sealed. Theweight carrier 18 is provided at its upper end with perforated lugs or ears 21 which form supports for a pintle 22 inserted through similar lugs or cars 23 on the back edge of a weight or cover 24. The cover or presser plate 24 should be of sufiicient dimensions to extend over the top of any carton which may be accommodated in the apparatus and it should be heavy enough to be held upon the carton by its own Weight so that it will firmly press the sealing flap against the under flaps and will hold the flaps in contact until the adhesive applied thereto has set. The lugs or ears 23 of the cover or presser plate are provided with extensions 25 which project beyond the pintle 22 and form stops which engage the rear side of the member 18 at the top thereof and thereby support the cover or presser plate in such a position that it may be easily reached by the operator and will be prevented from dropping down behind the device as will be readily understood.

It is thought the operation of the device will be readily understood from what has been said. The carrier or endless belt is, of course, set in motion through any con venient mechanism and will be of such length that a plurality of the carton holders may be secured thereto. the size of the belt being determined principally by the dimensions of the room in which it is employed. The cartons may be filled before being placed in the holders or may be filled as they are carried past a hopper by the travel of the carrier but the filling operation forms no part of my present. invention and, in actual practice, the carton will generally be filled by the operation of automatic machinery. The preferred operation is as follows :-The carton blank is folded into the proper form and adhesive applied to the sealing flap at one end of the carton either manually or by a pasting machine, the flaps being then folded so as to close said end. The carton is then placed in the holder with the closed end down, the front plate having been adjusted so as to exert just enough side frictionon the carton to hold it firmly in shape while the adhesive is setting. The top of the carton is, of course, left open with the flaps turned outward to permit fillin after the carton is filled, the front top flap may be passed between pasting rollers to receive adhesive or adhesive applied to the top flap 26 and the flaps then folded over to close the package. The top flap 26 will be pressed against, the plate 24, as shown in Fig. 3, when the carton is placed in the holder. the presser plate serving, therefore, the function of a platen to support said flap in the event that the adhesive is applied thereto so that it will not be .nccessaryfor the operator to hold the flap and the flap may be pressed smooth by the same instrumentality which is employed to raespee apply the adhesive. After the adhesive has been applied, a quick tap or touch of the finger upon the free end of the presser plate will serve to swing it downwardly and cause the flap to be pressed upon the under flaps, the weight of the plate holding the flaps together so that the contact will be maintained until the adhesive has thoroughly dried. As the carrier or endless belt describes the turn at the end of its run, the weight of the plate 24 will cause it to swing downwardly away from the package which may then be automatically released by any form of wiper or may be manually withdrawn.

My improved holder is exceedingly simple in the construction and arrangement of its parts and in operation will be found highly efficient. The foot plate and front presser plate 7 are' so adjusted that they will press upon the carton with sufficient force to hold it firmly in an upright position while the adhesive is setting but will not interfere in any way with the removal of the package as the carrier makes the turn at the end of the run. It may be applied to any form of carrier and used to facilitate the closing of cartons containing any material. The several parts of the device may be quickly adjusted so as to accommodate cartons of various dimensions and after they have been so adjusted will remain firmly in the adjusted relation.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, cooperating member secured on and rising from the carrier to en gage opposite sides of a carton and support the same in upright position upon the carrier, and a weight movably supported by one of said members in position to extend over and rest upon the carton and hold the sealing flap thereof in sealed position.

2. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, cooperating members secured thereon and rising therefrom to engage opposite sides of a-carton and support the same in upright position on the carrier, a presser plate hingedly mounted at one edge upon one of said members in position to rest upon the carton, the opposite edge of said plate being free, and means for limiting the movement of said presser plate away from the carton.

3. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, cooperating members secured upon and rising from the carrier to engage opposite sides of a carton and support the same in upright position upon the carrier, one of said members being provided with perforated lugs at its upper end, a pintle fitted in said lugs, apresser plate adapted to rest on the top of the carton and having perforated lugs directly engaging standard and adjustable upon the carrier toward and from the standard, and a freely movable presser carried by the standard and adapted to extend toward the face plate.

5. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, a rigid standard rising from and extending longitudinally of the carrier, a resilient face plate adjustably secured upon the carrier to cooperate with the standard and hold a carton thereagainst, and a freely movable presser carried by the standard and adapted to extend toward the face plate.

6. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, a rigid standard rising from and extending longitudinally of the carrier, a foot plate adjustably secured to the carrier and having an upstanding flange at its inner end parallel with the standard, and a resilient face plate secured at its lower end to said flange and having a longitudinal outwardly rolled bead at its upper end.

7. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, a base plate secured to the carrier and having a transverse rib at its front end. a standard rising from the rear portion of the base plate, a foot plate having a groove "slidably fitting over the rib on the base, a face plate carried by the foot plate and cooperating with the standard to hold a carton, and means for securing the foot plate in a set position upon the base.

8. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, 2. base secured to the carrier, a standard rising from the base, a transversely adjustable foot plate secured upon the base, a face late carried by said foot plate and cooperating with the standard to hold a carton, a weight carrier supported by the standard and vertically adjustable hereon, and a weight movably supported on the upper end of the weight carrier and adapted to rest upon a cartonheld between the face plate and the standard.

9. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, cooperating carton-engaging members secured thereon, and a presser plate hinged at one edge to one of said members to extend over and rest upon the carton, the opposite edge of the plate being free whereby upon inversion of the carrier the plate will move by gravity from the carton.

10. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, a standard fixed to and rising from the carrier and having its inner face disposed longitudinally of the same, a face plate arranged in parallelism with the standard to maintain a carton against the standard and adjustable upon the carrier toward and from the standard, and a freely movable presser plate hinged to the standard and adapted to extend there from toward the face plate to project over and rest'upon the top of a carton.

11. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, a rigid standard rising from and extending longitudinally of the carrier, a resilient face plate adjustably secured upon the carrier to cooperatewith the standard and hold a carton thereagainst, and a presser plate hinged at one edge to the standard to project therefrom toward the face plate and rest upon the top of a carton.

12. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a carrier, a rigid standard rising from and extending longitudinally of the carrier, a face plate adjustably secured to the carrier and having an upstanding flange at its inner end parallel with said standard, a resilient face plate secured at its lower end to said flange and having a longitudinal outwardly rolled head at its upper end, and a presser plate hinged at one edge to the standard to extend toward the resilient face plate, the presser plate being free except at its hinged connection with the standard.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS J. BURKE. [L. s.] 

